Pressure-accumulator.



G. W. DOOLITTLE. PRESSURE AGUUMULATOR.

APPLICATION FILED 00112, 1912.

1,096,291. PatentedMay12,19-14- 2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

G. W. DOOLITTLE.

PRESSURE AOCUMULATOR.

. APPLICATION FILED 00112, 1912.

1,096,291 Patented M y 121% 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

\.OLUI\\HIA VLANOGRAPH co. WASHINGTON. D c.

FIQ.

GEORGE W. DOOLITTLE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PRESSURE-ACCUIVIULATOR.

' To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE W. DOOLITTLE,

a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Chicago,in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Pressure- Accumulators; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to thenumbers of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification. In pumping systems and in water mains pressure may varywith the different hours of the day, dependent upon the servicerequired, so that at certain hours of the day pressure is insuflicientto supply the requirements of the service. This is true also where wateris stored in tanks or receptacles. When the tank or receptacle is full,or at its maximum level, pressure is materially greater than when aquantity of the water has been drawn therefrom, lowering the level, andin consequence, should pressure be required when the tank was but partlyfull, maximum pressure could not be obtained therefrom.

The object of this invention is to afford an accumulator whereby thepressure may be maintained approximately constant at all times duringthe discharge of a liquid from a tank or receptacle, and to afiord meanswhereby fluid may be stored or accumulated in a fluid distributionsystem when the system is operating at maximum pressure, for use whenthe system otherwise would be operating at less than maximum pressure.

It is also an object of the invention to af ford an economical pumpingand pressure accumulating system whereby the supply of liquid may be hadat any time-at a standard pressure, independentof the quantity of liquidin the tank or receptacle.

For convenience of illustration I have shown a well and an electricallyoperated pump in connection with my invention, although it is to beunderstood that this is merely conventional and that any suitable pumpmay be used and that in lieu thereof main pressure may be used.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 12, 1912.

Patented May 12, 1914;. Serial No. 725,424. 1

The invention (in a preferred form) is illustrated in the drawings andhereinafter more fully described.

In the drawings: Figurel is a central vertical section of a deviceembodying my invention, showing the pressure tank or accumulator inelevation. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the pump motor and drive. Fig.3 is an enlarged sectional view of the accumulator, showing the pistonin elevation and at its highest position. Fig. 4: is a similar view,showing the piston at its lowest position and in section. Fig. 5' is afragmentary view in elevation of the power shifting lever. Fig. 6 is asection taken on line 6 of Fig. 4:. Fig. 7 is a top plan view of theaccumulator.

As shown in the drawings: 1, indicates a well into which the suctionpipe 2, of a pump extends, the pump rod 3, of which extends upwardlythrough the top of the well and is connected by means of a pitman 4,with a wheel 5, to the shaft of which is fixed a bevel gear 5 driven bya worm 6, from a motor 7 shown as an electric motor. A discharge pipe 8is connected with the pump and is provided with a check valve 9, beyondwhich said discharge pipe delivers into a receptacle or tank'lO, which,as shown, is buried in the ground, although obviously it may be locatedin any position or at any height, and is provided with a conical orconcave bottom, and'is open at its upper end. Within said tank is aclose fitting piston l1, provided with any suitable packing ring 12, orhydraulic packing if preferred, and mounted on said piston is a casingor receptacle 13, adapted to receive therein, sand or gravel or heavyweights of any kind to hold the piston to the pressure desired. An eyebolt 14, is connected centrally in said pistonand extends above saidreceptacle. Pivotally mounted by means of a pin 21, on the open top ofsaid tank is a lever 15, the inner end of which is engaged by means of achain or cable 16, with said eye bolt, and the outer end of whichaffords a bell crank with arms 22 and 25, respectively. A lever 15*, isalso pivoted on the pin 21, and at its end engages a shifting rod 17,the upper end of which is pivotally connected with a switch bar 18. Whenthe outer end of said lever 15 is thrown upwardly, as shown in Fig. 4c,the switch bar 18 is also thrown upwardly, thereby completing the motorcircuit and starting the pump, as the tank is then nearly empty. Whensaid tank is full, the upper end of the eye bolt 1 1, strikes the innerend of said lever 15, throwing the lever 15 down as shown in Figs. 1 and3, breaking the circuit and stopping the pump. Mechanism connectinglevers 15 and 15 is provided for affording quick make and break of thecircuit. For this purpose the bell crank is provided at the outerextremity of the arm with a broad head, extending above and below saidlever 15, and is provided with transverse pins 23 and 24, one below andone above said lever, but spaced at some distance therefrom normally.The other arm 25, of said lever extends upwardly and en gaged at itsupper end is a spiral pulling spring 26, the other end of which isengaged on the outer side of the tank and which normally draws nearly inalinement with said arm 25, but slightly off center therefrom, so thatthe tension of said spring may be on either side or center of the pivot,dependent upon the adjustment of the lever 15, said spring acting tosnap the lever 15, from one of its adjusted positions to the other bythe swing of the head of the bell crank, bringing the pin 23 or 24,previously out of engagement with said lever, into sharp engagementtherewith.

A pipe 27 leads from the bottom of the tank, coming, as shown, through aT 28, in alinement with the inlet pipe and leads to a hydrant 29, or anydesired point of dis charge. As shown in Fig. 1, a controlling valve 30is connected in said discharge pipe at any convenient point to controlthe discharge therefrom.

The operation is as follows: When the tank 10 is empty, as shown in Fig.4;, the pump is started in operation automatically by the action of thelever 15, and this, of course, may as well be true whether anelectrically driven pump or one driven by a windmill or any other sourceof power be used. lVhile pumping the valve 30 is of course closed, andthe liquid is pumped into said tank or receptacle through the checkvalve 9, the pressure raising the piston and weight until said tank isfull, when the power is automatically shut off, as before described, andthe device is ready for use when required. The liquid may now bedischarged from the tank through the pipe 27, a main or hydrant 29, andvalve 30, controlling the same, and with very slight decrease ofpressure until the tank is again empty. \Vhen connected in a water mainthe operation is of course the same. The

tank is filled from the main pressure when acting at normal pressure andthe piston and loaded weight is raised until the tank is full, when thelever or tripping device operates to shut off the valve to stop themotor or to perform any other function necessary to cut off the pressurefrom the main or pump. When the tank is empty, the said levers againopen the valve or start the pump, as before described. At any time,whether the accumulator be in condition for delivering its maximumpressure or not, the direct pressure from the pump or the main may bedischarged through the main or hydrant 29, by merely opening the valve30, although, of course, if the main or surface pressure be greatly lessthan that afforded by the accumulator, the check valve 9 would not openif the accumulator were in operation until after the discharge of thecontents of the accumulator, thereby relieving the check valve. In otherwords the construction enables normal pressure to be attained at anytime when the accumulator is not in operation, and affords means forobtaining a much higher pressure than would otherwise be possible duringthose times when the pressure from the inain is subnormal.

Of course it is to be understood that very many details of constructionand arrangement may be varied. I have shown but a preferred form of myinvention, and I therefore do not purpose limiting the patent granted onthis application otherwise than necessitated by the prior art.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a device of the class described, a source of liquid pressure, adischarge pipe leading therefrom, a pressure tank with which the samecommunicates, a check valve in the discharge pipe, a weighted pistonmovable in the pressure tank on the liquid therein, a lever pivoted onthe tank and operatively connected with said piston, means forcontrolling the flow from the source of liquid pressure, a connectingrod engaged with said piston lever and operating said controlling meansto permit the flow of liquid when the piston is at its lowest point andto stop the flow when said piston is at its highest point, and a springconnected with said piston lever to afiord a snap shift of saidconnecting rod.

2. In a device of the class described, an electrically driven pump, acontrolling switch therefor, a discharge pipe leading from the pump, apressure tank with which the same communicates, a check valve in thedischarge pipe, a weighted piston movable in the pressure tank on theliquid therein, a lever pivoted on the tank and operatively connectedwith the piston, a connecting rod engaging said lever with the switch,and acting to make the motor eirsubscribed my name in the presence oftwo Quiti to start the pump When the piston ii at subscribing Witnesses.its owest point and to stop the pump W en the piston is at its highestpoint, and a GEORGE DOOLITTLE' 5 spring connected to afiord a snap makeand WVitnesses:

break for the circuit. CHARLES W. HILLS, Jr., In testimony whereof Ihave hereunto LAWRENCE REILESTEM.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). G.

